Motor-vehicle controlling mechanism



A. M. WOLF mo'ron vmucm: CONTROLLING razcrmmsu Feb. 12, 1929.

Filed Aug. 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR @mmbwg Feb. 12, 1929.

Filed Aug. 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR @m mq.

l ateiited Feb, 12, 1929.

iii T {TED m AUSTIN" M." WOLF; or rLArm'ifnnmnnw-'JEPLSEY.

MOTOR-VEHICLE i OONTRCLLING MEGHANISM;

Applieatibiif mea- August- 4, 1924. sriai'm; 736,032.

invention relates to thecoritMllihg means of motor vehicles and inore" particu larly to an improved mou'ntnigandarrange Inen't'of the contro'llever or levers.

It istheprimary object and purposeof my present improvements to provideafvery simple and inexpensive 'mounting of th'e'controls whereby'the maximum amount of human energy can be'ex' rtedthereupon and in' a 'm'anner which Willnotiesult indiscomfort'of the operator. A :tu'rtherobject is to so co 'elat'e the'controls', thatsimmtaneous operation of them Will 'res'ultin the maximum amount" of" energy being imparted to them;

" and that efiort expended upon one, willn'ot' react unfavorably on the other, as inpre'se'nt mechanisms; This therefore insures maximum safetyof operation. invention isparticularly applicable to the'breke controls of motor vehicles, but naturally can bealp' plieclto the othercontrols."

With the above 'ando'the'r objects in new, the invention consistsin'theiinproved moth'r' vehicle control and'in the form; construction; mounting, and relative arrangement of the several parts thereof as 'willbe hereinfafter more fully described, illustratecliri theac companying drawings and subsequently in corpor'atecl in the 'subjoinedclaims: 'Referringito the" accompanying drawings in which I have illustrated"one satisfactory embodiment of the'invention'and in whieh similar reference characters designate"corresponding parts throughout" the several views:

Figurel is'a planview'ofa'moter vehicle chassis incorporatingmy brake control Figure'2 is an enlarged vievvof sanieiii the vicinity of the drivers seat, and

FiQ'ure'S is an'elevationoi this portionof the chassis;

Referring to Figure 1, the chassis frame-"1 is spriii'gdnounteci in the customary manner onaxl'es 2 and3. The engifiefe' is'susp'ended in the'ohassis frame 1, With the clii'teh unit '5 secured to the hell housing; Power is cenvey'ed to and iro m'the' transmission} Ghy ineaneotthe'propellershafts 7 anl8f- The drivers seat 10' is suitably 'loc'etted b ehiiitl the Wheel 11, at latteractaatiirgriire drag-link 1 2 Whi'chcentrols the steering spiridles ofa'xlefl. In the'driiw'ing's I have shown a vehiclewith'left hand drive andcenterjcon trolf'; variation in the above vvoulctnaturally falterthe"po'sitionbf the other relating pairt'sfjbut they Would beara c0rres ;)on'(iing relationshipto the driver. a I I Refe'rring toFigures'1, Q'and 3 the dash 14 is'located in itsusualfpo'sition. The clutch pedall'is located tothe left of the brake pedal 16." The latterisooiineetetl With the foot-brakepull rod "17 which ';isconriecte lto 1ever1'180n the"crossshaf t 19; Levers 20 on shaft 19 convey the pull exerted by rod 17, when pedal '16 is depressedb the foot; to the rods 21 Which 'areco nnectedto levers on'the axle loralre-shaftsE22; I place lev'eflS near the center of shaft 19 irior cler' to equalize the distbrtion'that would otherwise takeplace with a'one' sided hodk up.

The emergency brake lever'25 is mounted on the" chi-tch unit 5, or any other suitable nchoring) oint: The lever 25;" instead or" being mounted l With its ful'cruin' 2 1 perpen die'u'lartothelongitudinalaxis AA of the vehicle's; svv'i'ngs in the la'ne B--B which is at an air le'to axis A-A, instead'of being arallelio it asis customary 'practicei The quadrant zsisnaturally'placed parallel to plar'ie'B B, andfserv'es to hold lever 25 in the on po'sitien; Bre'ikelever' 25 extends down ward beyond" fuleruni 24 and forms lever 27 to hi lf is'" seeureuihe ba-1l enl '28; The

seeketae"eneampassingsam forms one end of the emergency-brake pull rod 30;'a sinii lai s ocketai'encompasses the ball encl 32 attached t6 lever 33 011 cross shaft 343 Lever 33"is'p1ared"near the center ofsh'aft' 34 for the" urpq'seof equalization, as before explained forlev'er- 18 on shaft'lQQ The levers coii-vey "the" pull derived r0111 hand lever 25 an'lpulhrocl" 30t'o the rocls 36 Which'are coupleol'at theirrear ends with levers on the axle'sha'fts37.

The-pull rod 30km be'pr'ovicletl'vvith the usual yoke-enfds a-t ea'cl'i "entlif desired; as the moveme'nfo'fthe hall-end 28f'is not excessive in 'a' trainsvr'sedireetien; However-"I prefer wuseban joiiitsflasthere' will then he aiosm lately 'neispringifig' ureter-ritetransactions,

and this is desirable to avoid in order that all energy go into the braking, rather than distortion of parts which is wasteful of energy; with ball joints the distance between the ball- 1 ends 28 and 32 cannot vary at all.

In the ordinary emergency brake-lever lo cation, to one side of the longitudinal az'iis of the vehicle, in order that ample clearance be allowed for the gear shift. lever, and in a plane parallel to the said axis, ones'pull-becomes less the farther the lever is drawn back,

due to the levers being to one side. The muscles of the arm become less powerful as the arm becomes extended and cranked (in plan view) and a point is reachedwhen the arm leverage is at a great dlsadvantage and the imuscular exertion on the lever decreases".- If

one attempts to use foot and hand'brakes' at the same time, the simultaneous depressing of the brake pedal and pulling on thehand lever brings about a trying and disadvantageous condition for ones arm and leg, power being lost in both, due to the oifset of the points of application of the arm and foot, because of.

the brake lever being off to one, side. Furthermore muscular energy is lost in; resisting the tendencyof ones body being drawn to a position midway between the points of energyapplicatlon to the pedal and leverfi With my invention, the utmost can be got ten out ofthe arm muscles, as the pull istoward the shoulder, and the effort is not exerteda considerable distance to one side, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the car.

Furthermore, one is able to throw the inertia of ones body (from the hips up) and the muscular energy thereof on the lever, besides the arm muscularenergy. This is impossible in the ordinary construction. When usingboth brakes simultaneously, the brake pedal be comes a brace, and the maximum thrust in opposite directionscomes on the pedal and lever. Theinuscular action and reaction of the body as a whole works both ways, on each control such as to give the maximum results.

The conditions above enumerated are espe- V cially noticeable on commercial'vehicles where considerableenergy is required to stop them. In such vehicles the offset conditions of the driver himself in relation to the emergency brake lever is considerable. My invention aims particularly for safe operation of such vehiclesyso that they can be quickly brought to a stop when anemergency arises;

The offset, 'paralleLto-centerline condition V of the ordinary brake lever is faulty. inthat in the o l-position one generally strikes the knee of the'passenger sitting alongside the driver. In my construction, this is obviated, because when the lever is in the'position D (see Figure 3) the lever end is away from the passenger and towardthe driver. There is no interference between them. When the lever is released and pushed forward to position E it is out of the way of the passenger,

as his feet, which in plan view would be pro jected under the lever handle, are considerably below it and out of its way altogether.

Inasmuch as the greatest energy is required for braking, I have only shown my invention applied to the raking system. However, if desired, the gear shift lever 40 can be made to shift at an angle for similar reasons. Also, if desired, the pedals 15 and .16 can be so mounted. If so placed, the hand levers may or may not be placed at an angle, the object being that-a proper corelation be maintained between them, in order to obtain the maximum efficiency of muscular energy. I have only. shown one means of connecting a lever mounted at an angle, but it will readily be seen that many other means c'anbe pro vided, such as gears,cams, compounding or auxiliary levers,'cable and drum, screw and nut, etc., or any combination of same.

While I have herein described and shown in substantially parallel vertical planes, and a controlling device operating in a substantial ly vertical plane at an angle to the planes of said devices. I

,2. motor vehiclecontrol mechanism comprising a, chassis, a-power plant mounted thereon, .power transmitting .mechanism, braking mechanism, controlling devices for said mechanisms comprisinga pedal mounted on saidchassis, and a-lever mounted thereon so that its substantially vertical plane of operation is atan angle to the plane of operation of said pedal." V p 3. A motor vehicle control mechanism com prising a chassis, braking mechanism, a drivers seatmounted on said'chassis, and a controlling device for said mechanism mounted on said chassis to operate in a substantially vertical planeat an angle to the longitudinal axis of said chassis and toward the drivers position.

4. A motor vehicle control mechanism comprising achassis, brakin gmechanism, a drivers seat mounted on said chassis,-and an emergency brake lever controlling said braking mechanism on the other side of the lon- ,gitudinal axis of the chassis from the drivers position and mounted to operate in a planeat an angle to the said axis. f 5; A motor vehicle control mechanism comprising a braking unit, a brake lever at an angle to the axis of said power productherefor, and mounting means for same coning unit, and means for supporting said 10 sisting of a substantially horizontal fullever from said bell-housing; cruni pin at an acute angle to the transverse In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 5 axis of the vehicle. my invention, I have signed my name here- 6. A motor vehicle control mechanism comunder. prising a power producing unit, having a bellhousing, a control lever operating in a plane AUSTIN M. WOLF. 

